I have never seen a war where the American’s have been so alone in the world (well aprt from a couple of Anglo-Saxon allies) and where every major state is condemning the American war as illegal.
China Calls for Immediate Halt to War on Iraq
China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, called on Thursday for an immediate halt to the U.S.-led war against Iraq and a return to efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully. Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said the war was a violation of the U.N. charter and international law. “We strongly urge relevant countries to immediately stop military action,” he told a news conference without mentioning the United States by name. “They ignored the opposition of most countries and peoples of the world and went around the U.N. Security Council to begin military action against Iraq,” he said. “This constitutes a violation of the U.N. charter and international principles,” he said. “We hereby express our grave concern.”
The strength of the statement surprised Chinese analysts who had anticipated a mild reproach that would keep Beijing’s desire to keep its improving relations with Washington on track. Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at People’s University in Beijing said before the official statement he had expected an expression of regret and hope for a resumption of diplomacy “in very hollow and rhetorical terms.” He had expected China, which like France and Russia pushed for a diplomatic solution in the United Nations , to “keep a low profile.” Earlier, in a rare move, state television broadcast live, with simultaneous translation, the address by President Bush on the start of the war. Other official news outlets, including the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, ran the text of Bush’s brief speech on their Web sites shortly after it ended. State television also carried a later live broadcast from Baghdad by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, also with simultaneous translation.